REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Mehdi Taremi, the captain of the Iran national team, let his feelings about his team’s treatment at the World Cup be known. Taremi took shots at both FIFA and the United States government.
At the 2026 World Cup, Iran finished the group stage with three points after three draws with Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand.They were not one of the top eight 3rd place teams, however, and were eliminated from the tournament.
Due to US visa restrictions and security policies stemming from ongoing tensions between the two countries, however the Iranian national team was unable to stay in the United States between matches — unlike every other team in the tournament.
Based in Tijuana, Mexico, Iran was forced to repeatedly travel across the border to venues including Seattle, with minimal recovery time between fixtures, creating a logistical disadvantage that Taremi argued was deliberate.
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi spoke out against the way his team was treated by FIFA and the United States after being eliminated from the 2026 World Cup
El capitán de la Selección de Irán, Mehdi Taremi, explotó contra la FIFA y la organización de Estados Unidos.
“Esta es una Copa del Mundo desastrosa. Como jugadores profesionales no podemos jugar una competición en estas condiciones, no está bien ni es justo. Si la FIFA piensa… pic.twitter.com/mKPixKbgNe
— Martín Dandach (@MartinDandach) June 27, 2026
“This is a disastrous World Cup. As professional players, we cannot play a tournament under these conditions; it is neither right nor fair. If FIFA thinks this is fair, that’s their business, but it isn’t. Who is supposed to solve this problem for us? FIFA? The U.S.? I don’t know! Give me a name,” Taremi said (Translation via Google Translate).
Taremi, 33 years old, currently played for Olympiacos in Greece after previously featuring for the likes of Inter Milan in Italy and FC Porto in Portugal (where she scored 64 goals in 122 games).
“FIFA President Gianni Infantino came to our locker room after the first match against New Zealand and said he would resolve all the issues, but in reality, FIFA did nothing. In response to the question, ‘Do you feel that the World Cup organizers—including FIFA and U.S. officials—would prefer Iran to be eliminated from the competition?’ I would say: We have to fight against absolutely everything. We can’t stay in the country; we travel and undergo immigration checks every time we want to play—now we can’t stay in Seattle and have to go back to Tijuana,” he continued.
“They have done everything possible to eliminate us, so from our perspective, yes, I think that’s how they want it; they want us out.”
In addition to the difficulties off the field, Iran was also on the wrong end of numerous on the field controversies, particularly as it related to VAR (video assistant referee).
In their match against Belgium, Taremi appeared to have opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a cleverly worked free kick, only for a lengthy VAR review to rule it out for a marginal offside, with the technology determining that Taremi’s backside had strayed fractionally beyond the line while he faced away from goal.
Then, in their final group stage match against Egypt, substitute Shoja Khalilzadeh scored a goal in the 93rd minute that would have sent Iran to the knockout rounds for the first time in their history, only for VAR to intervene and rule the goal offside. Not only was the decision cruel, but it was confusing to the average fan given that Khalilzadeh was not behind Egypt’s last defender.
After VAR review, Iran is called offside and the goal is disallowed pic.twitter.com/hs9fyB1vqk
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 27, 2026
Here’s how the ruling was detailed by Forbes:
“In this particular case, Khalilzadeh was ruled offside because goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir had come to punch clear a ball into the penalty area and failed. And in the process, he moved off his line far enough that he accounted for neither of the last two defenders.”
“As a result, when Khalilzadeh received the ball, he was technically behind the second-to-last defender, even though you can tell watching replays that he was using the deepest non-goalkeeper as his reference point for staying inside.”
Iran’s group saw Belgium and Egypt advancing to the knockout rounds, with New Zealand finishing bottom of the group on just one point.